Field of the Disclosure
The technology of the disclosure relates to fiber optic modules for fiber optic equipment. The fiber optic modules can be included in fiber optic equipment rack and/or trays.
Technical Background
Benefits of optical fiber use include extremely wide bandwidth and low noise operation. Because of these advantages, optical fiber is increasingly being used for a variety of applications, including but not limited to broadband voice, video, and data transmission. Fiber optic networks employing optical fiber are being developed and used to deliver voice, video, and data transmissions to subscribers over both private and public networks. These fiber optic networks often include separated connection points at which it is necessary to link optical fibers in order to provide “live fiber” from one connection point to another connection point. In this regard, fiber optic equipment is located in data distribution centers or central offices to support interconnections.
The fiber optic equipment is customized based on the application need. The fiber optic equipment is typically included in housings that are mounted in equipment racks to maximize space. One example of such fiber optic equipment is a fiber optic module. A fiber optic module is designed to provide cable-to-cable fiber optic connections and manage the polarity of fiber optic cable connections. The fiber optic module is typically mounted to a chassis which is then mounted inside an equipment rack or housing. The chassis may be provided in the form of a tray that is extendable from the equipment rack like a drawer. This allows a technician access to fiber optic adapters disposed in the fiber optic module and any fiber optic cables connected to the fiber optic adapters without removing the fiber optic module from the equipment rack.
Due to increasing bandwidth needs and the need to provide high connectivity density in data centers for increased revenue generating opportunities, fiber optic networks are migrating to higher cable fiber counts. Multi-fiber cables are used to provide higher cable fiber counts and are used for trunk connections in a fiber optic network. In general, higher density connections make it more difficult to access optical components and connections. The same is true for fiber optic modules because of the increased number of fiber optic adapters disposed in the fiber optic modules to handle the higher connectivity density. Increased density makes hand access to optical components and connectors as well as the routing and organizing jumper connections more difficult. Even with fiber optic equipment tray pull out capabilities, a need still exists to improve access to optical components in a fiber optic equipment tray as well as provide neat routing and organization of jumper connections.